The Wife

Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra, and the case I'm going to share with you today takes place in the Uncompahgre National Forest in western Colorado. This area is almost one million acres in size and features a diverse array of wildlife and scenic views. There are canyons, mountains, and dozens and dozens of miles of trails and routes that snake across the landscape. These paths provide access to some of the most rugged terrain in the forest. According to the website visitgrandjunction.com, Uncompahgre, as well as Gunnison and Grand Mason National Forests, sit on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies mountain range. Combined, these three forests make up more than 3.1 million acres of public land. I've personally ventured to a few of these during my vacations in Colorado, and when I tell you that the views you can catch in this part of the American West are spectacular, I mean it. It's also a landscape that's used by a lot of hunters. I remember seeing signs about how popular hunting was in this region when I was last out there, specifically in the more remote areas where game exists in higher volume. In the fall of 1995, a hunter in one of these spots wound up finding himself in the crosshairs of a rifle, and the law enforcement investigation that unfolded revealed a surprising identity behind the person who pulled the trigger. This is Park Predators. This is the first time I've seen a hunter in the crosshairs of a rifle. I've never seen a hunter in a crosshairs before. according to her she'd walked through a bog and gotten her boots and overalls very muddy so she wanted to change she also mentioned to investigators that at some point during that time frame she'd crossed paths with a hunter along a nearby ridge who was decked out in camouflage which was a claim investigators thought was kind of odd because most hunters during hunting season wore orange or some kind of colorful material that would prevent them from being accidentally shot janiece said when bruce didn't return to their camp by 9 30 she became concerned and went to look for him shortly after that is when she found his body on the ground but it was at this point in janiece's interview that she began having a physical reaction seemingly from the trauma of everything that had happened that morning in response to what was happening to her authorities brought in a medical kit and transported her to a local hospital via helicopter they were not able to finish questioning her while she was receiving care bruce's body was taken directly to the coroner's office for an autopsy that exam was performed by dr thomas canfield who was a friend and co-worker of bruce's he concluded that bruce had been shot three times from a distance but only two of the shots had actually hit him the first shot was superficial and had gone through his hunting vest and barely grazed him the second shot hit him in the chest just under his right arm and punctured just below his lung a third round had entered his back at an upward angle seemingly as he was crawling on the ground trying to get away from whoever had shot him that bullet had severed his spine and lodged in his lung because of the unusual angle of the final shot dr canfield ultimately concluded that bruce's manner of death was a homicide the only problem was authorities had a potentially huge pool of suspects to look at they of course wanted to interview anyone nearby who could have possibly heard or seen anything related to the shooting so they started with doug kyle and his hunting companion michael who were the two most important people in the hospital michael had mostly been absent during the whole ordeal and only returned to the campsite he was sharing with doug during the investigation eventually authorities determined that none of the bullets associated with bruce's murder had come from his or doug's firearms the men stayed on investigators radar simply because of their close proximity to the crime but they were not the sole focus of the investigation instead detectives began exploring the possibility that bruce's killer was someone much closer to him according to coverage by the daily sentinel bruce whose full name was actually john bruce dodson was from baltimore maryland after graduating high school he'd served four years in the navy before eventually attending the university of maryland where he earned his bachelor's degree in medical technology he later got an associate's degree in behavioral science by the early 90s he settled down in cedar edge colorado at the time of his death he was employed as a medical technologist at delta county memorial hospital it was around that same time he'd met janiece who was working as a nurse at the same hospital she was divorced and had two kids from a previous relationship after dating for about two years the pair tied the knot in mid-july 1995 from what i read about bruce he was known for having a caring compassionate and comforting demeanor and an insatiable love for the outdoors he was into everything from horseback riding fishing photography hiking and biking he also loved animals especially dogs and he was known for his caring and compassionate demeanor and his insatiable love for the outdoors according to benjamin smith's reporting for oxygen janiece was a few years younger than bruce and had grown up in houston texas she came from a hunting family who also spent a lot of time in the outdoors but things weren't always rosy at home so as a teenager she abruptly left houston for a new life regarding this change janiece's friend katherine matthews told oxygen quote she had some issues and left to escape her home life she had to get out end quote shortly after moving janiece began dating a teenage boy named jc lee who worked as a ranch hand they eventually married had two kids and settled down in western colorado by 1990 though janiece and jc's 23 years or so of marriage had crumbled after he'd had an affair with a younger woman who was friends with his daughter the couple divorced that year and janiece ended up taking a job at a different hospital in montrose colorado on the heels of her divorce she started dating bruce when they got together he was said to be a big support for her during the fallout from her divorce according to reporting by rebecca risner the couple's mutual love for all things outdoors was echoed during their wedding ceremony when janiece wore a headdress shaped like a hunting hat that was covered in lace and tulle janiece had previously told authorities that her and bruce's hunting trip to the national forest in mid-october was actually his first hunting trip in the area the outing was nothing new to her though because she said her and her ex-husband jc had camped there many times she even told detectives she'd hoped she and bruce might run into her former in-laws in the area because i guess her relationship with them was still pretty good she'd also revealed in her statements to authorities that jc himself had frequently camped near where she and bruce had been camping that detail piqued investigators interest but unfortunately they weren't able to locate jc right away so instead they interviewed his brother who told them jc had indeed been camping in uncompagre national forest that weekend about three-quarters of a mile away from where jc had been camping but according to his brother jc had already left his campsite even more interesting as investigators conducted more interviews they learned that janiece and jc's relationship was a bit more complicated than those of your typical divorcees turns out a few months prior to the crime janiece had traveled to texas to visit jc even though she was newly married to bruce and he had a new girlfriend according to what janiece's friend katherine matthews told the news told oxygen though janiece had never really stopped loving jc despite his betrayal and infidelity so naturally investigators were eager to find jc and speak with him and on october 18th three days after the crime they finally got the chance they located him in layton utah and he agreed to an interview jc said that he had no idea his ex-wife and her new husband were going to be hunting in the same area of the national forest that he was the weekend of october 15th he straight up denied killing bruce and claimed he had an alibi for the time frame of the crime he said that he was with his family and other hunters when the shooting happened and detectives were eventually able to confirm that account with his friends and family still investigators remain suspicious of jc mesa county deputy sheriff john haggs told producers for snapped quote being an ex-husband a jealousy factor it's always suspicious they all camped at the same place and then bruce ends up being killed end quote but despite authorities thinking jc could have been involved he cooperated fully with the investigation he maintained his innocence and even provided authorities with copies of his fingerprints he confirmed that janice had taken a trip to texas a few months before bruce's murder attempting to reconcile with him but he rebuffed her because he had a new girlfriend and was not interested in getting back together while interviewing jc investigators noticed a list of items sitting on his table and asked him what that was all about he said the list contained a number of things that had gone missing from his campsite on october 14th the day before bruce was killed what stood out to detectives about this list was that one of the items on it was a 308 caliber remington rifle which just so happened to be the same caliber firearm that some of the bullet casings found at the crime scene had come from jc told investigators that he'd reported the gun missing on october 15th when he realized it was unaccounted for jc also clarified for detectives that in addition to his rifle being missing some of his 308 ammunition had been stolen and of course that was the same brand that investigators had found at the crime scene this detail did not feel like a coincidence to investigators and they began to suspect that jc's missing gun might be the possible murder weapon when they asked him if his ex-wife could have been involved in the shooting he responded that he wasn't sure however authorities were about to learn some concerning information about janice that caused them to take pause information that bruce's loved ones had also picked up on and did not feel good about on october 21st six days after bruce's murder loved ones held his memorial service at a catholic church in delta colorado his body was cremated and his ashes were given to janice but within a month or so of his death he was found dead and his body was cremated and his ashes were given to janice the body was cremated and his ashes were given to janice but within a month or so of his death some of bruce's family members began to notice strange things happening his brother told producers for snapped that janice got rid of all of bruce's things and took his name off their mailbox the daily sentinel also reported that she cashed in his retirement and checking accounts sold his home worth nearly a hundred thousand dollars sold his beloved horse and even euthanized his dog if those things weren't alarming enough what janice did with bruce's ashes after his death made his family's eyebrows really go up prior to his death bruce had made it clear that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered in leadville colorado so after he was killed his family fully expected janice to organize some kind of gathering to have everyone come together to respectfully spread his ashes per his wishes but instead janice reportedly drove to leadville stopped on the side of the road and just dumped bruce's ashes on the ground after learning about that his brother couldn't help but wonder if maybe something was wrong with him he was told that his brother was dead and that he was dead and that he miss. He told producers for Forensic Files that prior to the weekend hunt trip, Bruce had confided in him that he didn't even want to go hunting in the National Forest, but he'd agreed to the trip to appease his new wife. After discovering this information, authorities became aware of something even more noteworthy. Janice had taken out three life insurance policies for Bruce prior to his death, all of which she was the sole beneficiary of. In total, she stood to receive more than $280,000 in insurance payouts if something were to happen to Bruce. And that's based on what the dollar was worth back in the mid-90s. When you take into account inflation, that amount of money would equate to a lot more in today's currency. Apparently, though, finances had been a point of contention between the couple because when Janice entered their marriage, she didn't have a lot of money. Bruce, on the other hand, did have a better income and solid financial foundation. He was said to be rather frugal and prioritized saving money versus spending it. This reportedly did not make Janice very happy. And after they were married, she quickly wanted Bruce to get life insurance policies on himself in case he died. Also in the wake of the murder, Janice had been spending time in a casino. According to a Forensic Files Now article, she'd told investigators after the crime that she was going to go to Texas to visit and mourn with relatives. But when they checked up on her, they discovered she was gambling at a casino in Louisiana. Now, one could assume that her gambling might have just been a welcome distraction after the trauma of losing her husband. But regardless of her reason, Janice had been spending time in a casino. She had been spending time in a lying to investigators about where she was and what she was doing was not a good look. So between the life insurance policies and her lies about going to Texas to grieve with family, authorities felt compelled to bring her in for questioning once again. On January 17th, 1996, more than three months after the crime, they asked her to take a polygraph and she agreed. Despite denying any involvement in Bruce's murder, the test results indicated that Janice had shown signs of deception on at least two of the questions. Unfortunately, though, because polygraph test results don't amount to probable cause and detectives didn't have any physical evidence connecting her to the crime, they had to let Janice go. After that, the case came to a standstill. In October 1996, a lieutenant at the Mesa County Sheriff's Office explained to the press that reams of evidence that had been gathered at the crime scene were still being analyzed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The Sheriff's Office hoped that hunters who'd been in the National Forest in October 1995 and would be returning for the 1996 hunting season would keep their eyes and ears open. Flyers with information about Bruce's case were hung in area stores with the intention of catching the eye of a potential witness. But nothing substantial came from that. In the meantime, Janice, Bruce's widow, carried on with her life. In late November 1996, 13 months after the murder, she got married again, this time in Las Vegas to a guy named Bartlett Hall. After their wedding, the couple moved back to the United States, but investigators kept an eye on them. In April 1997, detectives interviewed Janice's new husband, hoping to see if maybe she'd told him anything about Bruce's case. But he didn't have much to offer other than the fact that shortly after marrying Janice, she'd asked him to take out a life insurance policy on himself worth $100,000. I imagine that information was concerning to investigators, but it wasn't like they could do anything at the moment because they had nothing on Janice that amounted to evidence of wrongdoing. Over the course of the year, Janice and Bruce had been together for the next couple of years. A few promising leads came in here and there, but nothing ever panned out. At some point in 1997, the Mesa County District Attorney's Office took over the case from the Sheriff's Office. And it seems that's when things really began to shift. On June 23, 1998, more than two and a half years after Bruce was shot, officials decided to return to Uncompahgre National Forest to try and find additional clues and potentially the murder weapon. One of the investigators on this trip was a volunteer from NecroSearch International, which according to their website is a, quote, During this effort, the NecroSearch representative and law enforcement officers waded through the same bog that Janice had told them in her initial interview she'd walked through before Bruce was shot. You know, the area where Bruce was shot. And they said, she'd gotten her boots and overalls all muddy. Well, the team took samples from that area, as well as from around an artificial pond that was near J.C. Lee's campsite. The NecroSearch volunteer had pointed out the pond and described it as unique because they said it was one of the only areas in the forest that was lined with bentonite clay, which is a volcanic ash-derived clay known for its absorbent properties and ability to draw impurities or toxins. It's often used as a sealant for artificial ponds. A forensic scientist with a Colorado Bureau of Investigation compared the mud found on Janice's clothing from the day of the shooting to the soil samples. And what she found was surprising, to say the least. The mud from Janice's clothing contained traces of bentonite clay, the same bentonite clay that only existed along the artificial pond next to her ex-husband's campsite, which meant she'd passed through that body of water on the morning of the crime, not the bog she'd said she'd walked through that was in the forest. She said, closer to the crime scene. This revelation meant that Janice had lied about where she was on the morning of the murder, and it proved she'd physically gone close to J.C.'s campsite. The question authorities needed to answer, though, was why. A theory they came up with that could explain the evidence and her movements involved that missing.308 rifle from J.C.'s campsite. They thought that perhaps Janice had snuck into her ex-husband's camp in the early morning hours of October 15th, stolen his rifle, and stolen the gun. But they didn't. They didn't. They didn't use the rifle, and then used it to kill Bruce. If the weapon was ever traced, it would essentially frame J.C., not Janice. And given their bad breakup, one could assume she'd had a motive to want J.C. to feel some pain for refusing to get back together with her. Now, it's unclear from the source material if it was during the trip that NecroSearch helped investigators to find this bentonite clay sample, or another time. But after the shooting, authorities had managed to find a.308 caliber bullet buried underneath some brush near the crime scene that they strongly suspected was connected to the killing. There was still just one thing holding detectives up, though. The bullet that had been retrieved from Bruce's body. Investigators believed it had come from a.243 caliber firearm, and they weren't sure where that round could have come from since J.C.'s missing gun only shot.308 caliber rounds. It remained a puzzling detail until, one day, an investigator at the district attorney's office named Bill Booth stumbled upon an explanation, kind of by accident. He happened to see an advertisement for.308 caliber bullets that were manufactured by the brand Nosler. Those specific bullets had an outer jacket made of copper, but inner lead core that looked identical to a.243 bullet. Bill Booth began to wonder if maybe a Nosler brand.308 bullet had been used in the crime, but its original copper jacket had just somehow been stripped off before or while going through Bruce's body, leaving behind what authorities thought was a.308 caliber bullet. Bill Booth was not sure if it was a.308 caliber bullet. Bill Booth was not sure if it was a.308 caliber round. So detectives decided to have the bullet fragment from Bruce's chest cavity compared to the.308 caliber round that had been discovered near the crime scene after the murder. According to the coverage in this case, lead bullets typically have identifiable trace elements because most of them are made using recycled car batteries. A forensic metallurgist with the FBI was able to match the lead core of the supposed.243 caliber bullet with the other.308 caliber round, which proved they'd come from the same batch of ammunition. Investigators couldn't confirm those rounds were fired from J.C.'s missing rifle because that weapon was still nowhere to be found, but they had their suspicions. So much so that on October 23rd, 1998, they were able to get an arrest warrant for Denise and charged her with first-degree murder. At that point in time, she was living with her new husband in Nacogdoches. According to SNAP's coverage, Denise was reportedly hiding behind her bed holding a shotgun when police came to take her into custody. Following her arrest, she was held without bond at the Nacogdoches County Jail before being extradited back to Colorado. There, a judge held her on a $500,000 bond. In January 1999, an eight-hour preliminary hearing was held to determine whether there was enough probable cause to try Denise for first-degree murder. During that proceeding, Doug Kyle testified about what he'd seen and heard on the morning of the crime. And he noted that shortly before hearing Denise scream, he'd seen her put a gun into her and Bruce's vehicle. The DA investigator, Bill Booth, also testified and went through the physical evidence that had been collected, as well as all the soil sample testing that had been done. He revealed that not only was the bentonite clay evidence substantial, traces of soil from the shoes Janice had worn on the day of the crime matched soil from her ex-husband's campsite. As well as the dirt near where Bruce's shooter had stood. Her defense attorney, of course, though, emphasized that the state's entire case was circumstantial because none of the soil sample evidence they presented could be proven 100%. But the judge ruled to move ahead to trial anyway. In April, a few months after the preliminary hearing, Denise entered a plea of not guilty. And the case was scheduled on the trial docket for October of that year. According to Shannon Joyce's reporting for the Daily Sentinel, two months before things were expected to get underway, the judge in the case made some interesting rulings as to what evidence was being used. be allowed in court. He ruled that prosecutors would not be allowed to discuss any other insurance claims Janice had made besides the life insurance policies on Bruce. Turns out, she'd reportedly tried to collect more than $100,000 in insurance money for an unrelated arson and unrelated car theft. But prosecutors would not be able to tell jurors about those incidents. Despite that, though, the judge was going to allow the DA to tell jurors about an incident where Janice filed an insurance claim for several stolen guns. But later, the firearms were found at a friend's home. So she had to return the money to the insurance company and was charged with false reporting. Interestingly, the judge planned to allow the defense to introduce new claims that Janice had told investigators she had a disassociative identity disorder and couldn't remember all of her actions or recollections very clearly. Which I think was her way of implying that she may not be fully responsible for shooting her husband. Eventually, after several more months, Janice's trial finally opened on February 24, 2000. If convicted, she faced life in prison. The prosecution's theory of the crime was fairly simple. The state claimed that Janice had likely started planning her husband's murder shortly after they wed. Their theory was that she'd timed her hunting trip around the same weekend she knew J.C. Lee and his group of friends would be in the area. And because she'd camped with her ex-husband before in the National Forest, Janice was likely to have planned her husband's murder shortly after she'd been in the National Forest. She knew exactly where he'd be. Then the prosecutor explained that Janice had covertly crossed the muddy artificial pond near J.C.'s campsite, stolen his Remington.308 caliber rifle and ammunition, and used that gun to kill Bruce. After gunning her husband down, she picked up all but one of the shell casings from where she'd originally fired at Bruce, discarded the murder weapon somewhere no one could find, and then returned to her campsite to change her clothing before pretending to find his body. And then she placed some of the casings on the ground there. Even with the strict guidelines surrounding what was going to be admissible as evidence, the prosecution was still able to call 71 witnesses, which included ballistics experts, backcountry trackers, and Janice's ex-husband, J.C. Lee. The state also introduced several models of the crime scene, an aerial image, and diagrams of where the shooting had occurred. According to Zach Barnett's reporting for the fire, the shots that killed Bruce, he did state she was a somewhat skilled markswoman. In his coverage, Zach Barnett explained that Janice had been hunting since she was seven or eight years old and was known to be an excellent shot. As far as physical evidence, the prosecutor submitted 190 items as evidence. And of course, he also brought up the key points about the soil samples and bullet casings. The defense's response to the state's case was essentially to call it a crime scene. Janice's defense attorney argued, quote, when you don't have a case, you start slinging mud. That's what they've done since day one, end quote. But that argument did not convince the jury, because on March 20th, 2000, after three and a half days of deliberation, they found Janice guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She appealed her conviction in 2002, but her request was denied. As of this recording, she's still in a women's prison in Colorado, where she will likely remain for the rest of her life. In the years after her trial, she continued to maintain her innocence and told primetime interviewer Chris Cuomo, quote, I still do love Bruce Dodson. The only way I can live with this is that I have the peace of knowing I didn't do it and the prayer in my heart that someday the truth will win out, end quote. As far as what happened with Bruce's life insurance proceeds, his brother and sister ended up collecting the funds, Janice was hoping to get. That, plus her conviction for Bruce's murder, are forms of justice served. But to those closest to the victim in this case, peace was a difficult thing to grasp. Loved ones stated as much to producers for Snapped. Personally, I'm convinced that the best outcome would have been for Bruce to come home, for him to have simply hunted instead of being hunted. Park Predators is an audio production. You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website, parkpredators.com. And you can also follow Park Predators on Instagram, at Park Predators. I think Chuck would approve.